Result of Utter Doom
by GazMembrane
Summary: The truth about Ms. Bitters is discovered along with the reason Zim has been acting strangly. A child comes to visit her mother and Dib discoveres why he hasn't been able to stop Zim. (This is part 2 of 3 in the 'Result of Utter...' trilogy) ZAGR, R&R!


Disclaimer: I do not own Invader Zim or it's characters, they are all property of Jhonen, do not diss Jhonen!!! Xii is mine though along with my theory on Ms. Bitters. ENJOY THIS YOU HUMAN SLAVES!!!!!!  
  
Result of Utter Doom  
  
Dib woke up slowly hearing a slight knocking on his door, followed by the sounds of boots clicking on a hard wood floor, he slowly turned and looked at his alien clock, it was 8:30. Seeing that he shot up, then winced, feeling a sudden pain shoot through his body, he felt his back, there wasn't a wound, but there was a lot of pain, like his back had been shattered then put back together piece by piece. He carefully pulled himself out of bed then pulled on his blue, unemotional faced t-shirt, then slowly made his way down stairs.  
  
"Gaz, why didn't you get me up for school..?" he asked seeing the head of his litter sister on the couch.  
  
"Dad called us in today, Zim explained some of what happened, but he didn't mention the other Irk, all he said was that we all got hurt, but he was well enough to get to school and that you and I should stay home. Dad agreed and called the school." Gaz said not looking up from her GameSlave2. Dib made his way over to the couch and carefully sat down on the opposite side of the couch, afraid his presence would upset Gaz, but she didn't seem to mind. She looked at him, and saw his confused look, and she gave him and equally confused look, "What?" she asked putting her GameSlave2 on pause.  
  
"You're not going to tell me to go away, or that I'm in your light or something?" he asked using a pillow to prop himself up.  
  
"No, you're not bothering me right now." She said looking at him, he was almost shocked as he looked at her; her eyes were calm, not angry or annoyed at all.  
  
"What happened? All I remember is running forward, then I woke up in my bed." Dib asked looking at her, she tried to hide the pained look on her face, and she must have done a good job of it because Dib didn't seem to notice.  
  
"Well…you got hit by the laser Sirk fired, that's why you blacked out, Zim, GIR, SIR and myself managed to get out of the ship before it exploded from the Tallest activating the self destruct system of Sirk's ship, then we just came back here." Gaz explained purposely keeping out the part about how Zim was the one who did the tedious job of healing Dib. He just nodded and watched her as she got up and headed toward the kitchen.  
  
"…uh… Gaz…could you…I mean you don't have to, but…please?" Dib said looking at a tape that was labeled "Mysterious Mysteries ONLY" Gaz looked at the tape and for a moment her eyes went back to their normal glare and Dib flinched. She then remembered how he had taken that shot for her and figured she owed him this one, so she walked over and put the tape in, tossing him the remote.  
  
"Zim said he'd bring your school work here, and mine, so you have to promise not to try and kill him when he gets here around 2:30, all right?" Gaz said going into the kitchen, Dib could hear the refrigerator opening and closing.  
  
"Zim's coming here? Why is he being so nice to just give us our work, no questions asked?" Dib asked as Gaz walked back into the room, a couple of sodas in hand.  
  
"Well…that I don't know, he gave no protest about my work, in fact he offered to get it. I had to convince him to get yours, but I don't blame him, your teacher's creepy." Gaz said handing one of the sodas to Dib then taking her place once again on the other side of the couch. Dib looked at her and got a curious look on his face, wondering why Zim would be so nice to his litter sister, another member of the race he had been sent to destroy, but he quickly shrugged it off as his tape started to play and he heard the "Mysterious Mysteries" theme song play and quickly drew all his attention to that.  
  
Zim sat in Ms. Bitters' class half asleep as usual as she droned on and on about how they were all going to die in some hideous explosion or something, he would have stood up in protest, saying he would be the one to do so, but he didn't, something was holding him back. He kept thinking about the day before and periodically looked to the inside of his elbow, he had made sure Dib's DNA wouldn't change with the alien blood, and that he wouldn't suffer any side-effects from it either. He couldn't figure out why he had done it at all, he just winced remembering the feel of the sharp needle going into his arm. He glanced up at the clock, waiting for it to get to lunch, he was going to go home and check up on the new SIR who was now adjusting to life on earth.  
  
He looked around the room and noticed something odd about Ms. Bitters, other than the obvious, she was floating above the ground behind her desk, her legs seemed to be gone, but she didn't seem to notice. He half-listened to her lecture and several times almost said something about the fact she was levitating, but didn't, he thought it would be better that way. When the bell finally rang, Zim carefully stepped up to Ms. Bitters' desk and cleared his throat.  
  
"What is it Zim…" she said with almost a snake like hiss as she glared down at him.  
  
"I am going to be taking Dib's class work to him after school. I just thought I'd tell you." He explained, trying not to falter at the sight of his teacher, who only gave him and odd look.  
  
"Very well, remind me at the end of the day." She said turning to a computer and hitting a few keys, her glare not leaving her face, Zim tilted his head then nodded heading for the door, but stopped and looked over his shoulder.  
  
"Oh, by the way, you're still floating." He said then ran as quickly as he possibly could without his spider legs away from the classroom.  
  
He didn't notice Ms. Bitters look down then let her legs appear, her eyes widened then hit a couple more keys on the computer then waiting for it to finish working. It flashed 'connecting' then 'ready to receive transmission' then the All Mighty Tallest appeared on the screen.  
  
"I think he's getting suspicious." She said, her voice still hissing, her glare not leaving her face, even at the sight of the Tallest, "I'm surprised that UFO-freak Dib hasn't noticed anything. I have been here too long, I have started to deteriorate. I was levitating and didn't even notice. " She explained, Red and Purple nodded and listened to her.  
  
"Go on Bit." Red said lowering his head to listen.  
  
"I have learned much about these people, these 'children' are a lot like the Irken children back home, they're vulnerable, but they also show strength and starve for power. I don't know if this planet will be very easy, regardless of the invader that's here, he did manage to take out Sirk." She explained clasping her hands under her chin.  
  
"Yes true, but he also needed the help of those two humans and his defective SIR." Purple said, "along with ourselves, but it was probably a good thing he got rid of Sirk in the first place, he was going against orders." Purple then raised his arm and hit a button, and a picture of a female Irken with unusual gray eyes, but the same stature of the Tallest appeared in the corner of the screen.  
  
Ms. Bitters looked at the picture and sighed, "How much longer must I be here, and I miss Xii." She said, looking at her true self.  
  
"You can return soon, just a little longer, your 'school year' is almost over, and once it is you can return to us, and your daughter." Red said, casting a glare over to Purple, who only looked away for a moment, then back to Ms. Bitters.  
  
"She's fine Bit, don't worry, everything will be fine, once you return to our ship, we'll reunite you with Xii." Purple said, trying to be compassionate, knowing that Xii wanted to see her mother as well. They all continued to talk for several minutes and the link was disconnected when the bell rang and students slowly began to make their way back to the classroom. Zim looked at her curiously as he walked past her class room, he noticed the despair and sadness that went over her face as she turned off her computer, he was on his way home; he had picked up Gaz's homework during lunch, then pretended to be sick afterwards. He looked down at the homework, noticing that Gaz had a project due in art, and several pages of math, he looked up and noticed he was getting to the end of the hall, then he remembered, he had to get Dib's homework too, he quickly turned and ran back down the hall.  
  
Ms. Bitters looked at him raising one eyebrow as he tried to catch his breath, "I need to get Dib's homework Ms. Bitters, I am sick and going home, and since his house is on my way, I thought I'd deliver it to him, like I said I would." Zim said, Ms. Bitters sighed and went over to her desk, picking up a couple papers and hanging them to Zim.  
  
"There, maybe you two will see how dismal your lives are," she turned to the rest of her class, "you may learn that someday too. This whole world is doomed, it'd be nice if someone other than me realized there's no point." She said going behind her desk and sitting down, going on with her lecture, Zim watched as he turned to leave and noticed she was floating again. He shook his head and went back down the hallway, going away from the school and over to Dib's house, he was hoping Gaz wouldn't be too mad that he was early, he didn't really care what Dib said.  
  
Back in the far reaches of space, in a very large magenta ship with the Irken Insignia on it, Red and Purple watched as the stars floated past them on their way to another one of the invader's planets so that they can instate new laws and regulations on what was left of the native population. Red looked over at Purple who sighed and sipped on his fountain drink.  
  
"Will you knock it off." Red said giving a slight glare to his associate. Purple looked at him curiously, then lowered his drink.  
  
"Knock what off?" he asked sitting up in his chair.  
  
"You've been doing nothing but sighing ever since you saw Bit for the first time in a year. I realize you miss her, but understand this, you have a job to do." Red snapped, Purple was usually the quiet one between the two, and hearing this hurt him, he did miss Bit, she was a beautiful Irken and almost as tall as Red and himself, except she had gray eyes, no one could understand that, or the fact that her daughter Xii had lavender eyes, not red, green, or violet.  
  
"Look, you don't know the half of it." Purple said trying to raise his voice and sound superior, but he quickly quieted down seeing Red's glare again.  
  
"I know more than you think, I know you and Bit had a little fling, and I know that Xii is yours, so stop acting like you're the smart one." Red said causing Purple to stand up and glare at his friend.  
  
"Leave Xii out of this, please! She has nothing to do with any of this, all right so what if I do miss Bit a lot, and so what if Xii is mine. You would feel the same way if you had someone you cared about like I care about Bit." Purple said turning around and leaving the control room. Red simply watched him leave, then sighed.  
  
"I do..." he looked at a picture of a female Irken with light green eyes, "But she's gone…" he said looking at the word 'deceased' under her picture, she had been killed in Operation Impending Doom 1, that was the real reason he forever hated Zim.  
  
Purple made his way down the long corridors, he passed several, much smaller Irkens who bowed, or saluted as he passed, he feet not touching the ground as he went towards a room that had a sign on it and when translated read 'Please Knock', which he did, very lightly. As the door slide to one side and opened, he looked down at a female Irken, she was taller than Zim by about 6 inches, but she was actually younger than he was, she had Gray- Lavender eyes that were looking up at Purple, her antennae were curled at the end and hung behind her green head.  
  
"Daddy!" she said jumping up and wrapping her arms around the All Mighty Tallest Purple's neck, he held her gently and smiled at her and held her in his arms.  
  
"Hello Xii. Guess what?" he said walking down the corridor with her, her door shutting as they left the sensor range, he liked the days he could get away from Red and just walk with his daughter.  
  
"You know I don't like guessing games…" Xii said giving him and annoyed look, putting her hands on her hips, she didn't have to hold on because Purple could easily carry her with one arm.  
  
"I know, but you'll like this one." He said smiling at her, "Now come on, just guess." He said walking past several academy students on their way to and from class; they each said their praises to him and Xii when they saw her.  
  
"Fine…All Mighty Red got his face stuck in the vacuum lift again?" she asked hardly managing to hide a slight snicker when she remembered that happening in the first place.  
  
"Not that I know of…but try again, you'll never get it." He said joking around with her and also tried not to laugh when he remembered that happening to Red, he never got anywhere close to vacuum lifts again.  
  
"If I'll never get it, when why do I have to guess." Xii said giving him another annoyed look, she didn't have to worry about being scolded for not respecting the Tallest; this was her father after all.  
  
"Fine…you win," he said sighing, acting like he gave up everything, which made little Xii laugh, "I saw your mother today, she misses you a lot." He said looking at her, she then managed to jump down to the floor, landing perfectly on her feet as she looked up at him, her face softening a little, her lavender eyes looking sad.  
  
"You did? When is she coming home…? Did she say? What planet is she on?" Xii asked jumping up trying to look her father in the eye, she knew she would never be able to levitate like he could, or like any other Irken, but she also knew she would never have to be recharged by electricity either for Xii was the first and only Irken ever known to not need a pack to keep her alive. Purple looked down at her and smiled, kneeling down so she could look him in the eye.  
  
"She's almost done with her information gathering mission, after she's done, she'll get to come home." He said patting Xii on her head.  
  
"What planet is she on?" Xii asked, moving his arm so she could still see him, but not have the larger part of Purple's forearm in her face.  
  
"She's on a planet about a half a light year away called Earth." He said he got nervous when he saw Xii's eyes light up in excitement.  
  
"That's where Zim is isn't it! I always hear you and All Mighty Red complaining about it." She said walking in front of him, her eyes were excited and full of life once again, for some reason she admired Zim, she always had, and it was because of that admiration Purple never told Xii who was the reason he almost lost her, but she did know what it was; the disaster of Operation Impending Doom1.  
  
"…Yes Zim is there, but he's on a different, very special mission. He won't be back for a very long time." Purple said standing up and walking with Xii, she looked up and smiled at him quickly walking at his side.  
  
"Zim will be coming home eventually though right?" she asked looking up at him.  
  
"Eventually where he is might be one of our many homes." Purple said glancing down at her, but then looking forward, making sure he wouldn't hit anything.  
  
"What do you mean?" Xii asked stopping and watching her father, who slowed down and looked down at his daughter.  
  
"Zim's an Invader." He said, he hated telling her that, she hated invaders, she was never aloud to be one because of who she was, he figured it was a jealousy factor as to why she didn't like them.  
  
"Why is he an invader…why is he where mom is?" she asked looking up at Purple, "He practically failed all his classes in the academy." She said looking up at him curiously as he stepped forward and picked her up again.  
  
"Xii listen, you may have gone through the training, but you cannot go see Zim. He is an invader because that is what he was born to do, and Red and I are giving him one chance to prove himself. If he doesn't do this, then he will be banished forever." He said then noticed he said too much seeing Xii get shocked.  
  
"Why was he banished?" she asked looking at him, giving her father probably the most serious face she'd ever given him.  
  
"I'll tell you when you're older," he said putting her back down, "I just remembered I have to go help Red with something, why don't you go write a letter to you mother and I'll send it to her tonight all right?" Purple said starting quickly back towards the control room. Xii just stood and watched, then started back towards her room, the end of her light pink dress almost touching the tops of her white boots. She waved to a few of her former classmates, she hated being treated like royalty, she had requested that she be treated just like any other student, when she was still in the academy.  
  
When she got to her room, she pulled out a piece of paper and started to write, but it wasn't to her mother, it was to her father, sure she had things to tell her mother, but she was going to tell them to her in person. After she wrote what she had to say, she grabbed the supplies she would need, then grabbed her backpack, it had food supplements, books, and other things to remind her of home, along with a picture of her mother. Xii walked over and let her door open, she carefully made sure no one was watching then made her way down to the shipping bay, she knew her ship would be there, she got one when she turned 13(in human years) when she got there she was greeted and saluted from other Irkens, not all of them were shorter than her, but some were, but even then, none of them questioned her as she opened the hatch to her ship and climbed in. She pulled a pair of white gloves from her backpack and put them on, as she sat down at the controls and started up the engines.  
  
"Incoming transmission." The computer said, Xii sighed and hit the accept button on her control panel.  
  
"You are not authori—Xii?" All mighty Tallest Red said as he noticed who was on the screen in front of the bridge, "Xii, what are you doing? Purple just went to take you out to eat." Red said, he was almost in a panic.  
  
"Don't worry All Mighty Red, there's a letter in my room for my father, he'll understand why I have to do this. I'll be back when mom comes home." She said hitting a button and ending the transmission. She turned her ship around, let the bay doors open as she then flew away, hitting in the coordinates of earth letting the ship go on auto pilot as she waited to see her mother again.  
  
Zim made his way down the sidewalk seeing the fence around Dib's house getting closer and closer. He was getting nervous, yet he didn't know why, but he was. He could see Gaz's hard eyes looking at him as she opened the door, maybe that's why he was nervous, was he afraid of Gaz? He walked down the cement path that led to their front door; he could feel beads of sweat dripping down the side of his face, as he rang their doorbell.  
  
"Gaz could you get that!" Dib yelled from inside, Zim cringed when he heard his rival's voice, even though he helped Dib, he still hated him with a passion. Zim didn't notice the door open he was so mad, he looked down at his fists and saw they were clenched, when he looked back up, he saw a very confused Gaz looking up at him.  
  
"Are you all right Zim?" she asked, one eyebrow raised at him, Zim jumped back a little, when he saw her, but this just confused her even more. He straightened his stance and looked down at her.  
  
"Of course I'm fine, I am not some weak little earthling." He said making sure not to drop the papers that he got for Gaz and Dib.  
  
"Who is it Gaz?" Dib called from back inside the house, Gaz started to glare, but it wasn't from anger, it was more from having to be with Dib all day. She looked back up at Zim and her expression softened when he looked down at her after seeing her glare.  
  
"Hey, it's only 12:00, why aren't you at school?" she asked hitting the pause button on her GamSlave2.  
  
"I got too bored, besides I have more important things to do," Zim said, "Here, the ones are the top are yours, the bottom ones are Dib's." he said handing the papers to Gaz. She looked down at them, noticing her math homework and started to glare.  
  
"Thanks Zim." She said ands went to shut the door, but kept it open slightly, "Don't think that me being polite means I like you or anything, I was just glad to see someone other than Dib for once." And with that she shut the door, leaving Zim to go home and ponder what 'liking someone' actually meant. Gaz turned and dropped Dib's papers on his head.  
  
"Hey!" Dib said glaring as he gathered his work, "Was that Zim? It's only 12:00." He said watching Gaz as she made her way towards the stairs.  
  
"He left early, I'll be upstairs, I need SOME time away from you." She said as she walked up the stairs and to her room. Dib sighed and reached for a pen as he tried to do his work. Gaz tossed her papers on her bed and went over to her desk and started to draw, she did this often; procrastinating to get her work done. She started to drift into her own little world, placing herself as the main character in her game, she was so distracted she didn't even notice what she was drawing. She was pulled out of her daydream when she heard the door shut; Professor Membrane was home. Gaz sighed and looked at her drawing, her eyes opening wide, "Why did I draw this?" she asked herself standing up and backing away from her desk.  
  
"Gaz! I brought lunch home for you and your brother!" she heard her father say, she opened her door and ran downstairs, Professor Membrane looked out from the kitchen as Gaz jumped over the back of the couch and sat on the opposite side of Dib.  
  
"Are you staying for lunch?" Dib asked as his father walked in with some pizza, sitting down between his children, setting down the food.  
  
"I can only stay for a bit, son. The lab has discovered something amazing! They believe it to be an alien transmission signal! We haven't been able to translate it yet, but so far it isn't anything like any language here on earth, so we've ruled out the possibility it might be a radio or television signal from here." The professor said, holding up on finger to show just how important it was, Dib almost jumped for joy, but he soon remembered how much his back hurt, and tried to calm down.  
  
"Dad that's what I've been saying! There's an alien on earth right now! He just delivered our homework from school! He's sending for backup, he's trying to take over the human race!" Dib said, holding a slice of pizza in one hand, Gaz and Professor Membrane looked at him curiously.  
  
"No no son, I told you it wasn't a signal from earth." The professor said picking up a slice of pizza.  
  
"Don't you remember? It was about a year and a half ago, I told you they were coming! I heard the transmission up on the roof, don't you remember?" Dib asked lowering his pizza, his father put a hand under his chin and went into deep thought.  
  
"I remember you coming in through the window…then you ran over and tugged my coat, you were saying something about being on the roof, then I showed you, what was then my latest creation, toast! Then you went and told Gaz they were coming but you didn't know who, that's all I remember." He said Gaz looked up at her father wide-eyed, she had no idea his memory was that good!  
  
"If it's the same language as the one I heard then I'm right! We're all in danger! Dad let me listen to the transmission please!" Dib said putting his pizza down so he could look dramatic in front of his father. Gaz just sighed and continued to eat her pizza, she looked at Dib from the corner of her eye and glared, she didn't care anymore, she didn't care about aliens or what-not, even though Dib continued to warn her, and try to protect her, she wasn't afraid of them, well, not since what happened, Sirk was long gone and in the end Zim saved her.  
  
"Why don't you ask Zim if he's heard anything?" she said, she sounded so calm it almost shocked both her father and brother. Dib looked at her with an eyebrow raised, he had thought of asking Zim, but didn't want to join in another alliance with him unless it was absolutely necessary.  
  
"Are you crazy Gaz? Zim was probably the one to send out a signal to get this other alien to help him." Dib said sitting up and glaring at his sister, "if another alien comes here, he'll join with Zim and we'll all be even more doomed than we currently are!" Gaz glared at him, then went back to eating her pizza, she didn't care about this subject anymore, she just wanted to get back to her room so she could get away from Dib, she had spent too much time with him today as it was.  
  
"Actually son, according to our specialists, one of the voices sounded female and they said that her transmission was getting closer, not the other voice." Professor Membrane said standing up and going to the door, "I'm going back to the lab now, I'll tell you if anything else comes up." He said walking out of the house, leaving Dib and Gaz alone.  
  
"Besides, if it is another alien, you have about six months to defeat Zim before this other one gets here right? Stop worrying about it, it's not like they can succeed anyway." Gaz said standing up and going back upstairs, Dib looked at her curiously, Gaz didn't usually put her opinion in on things like this. He shrugged and turned back his tape, setting his homework to the side, he had a lot of time and he was going to spend a lot of it watching 'Mysterious Mysteries'  
  
Gaz stepped into her room and fell across her bed, her mind was racing she couldn't believe that she even said something about this so-called alien message. She turned over and looked at her ceiling, it was painted black, along with the rest of her room, she liked it dark, but most thought of it as a permanent sign of mourning. She looked at her homework, it was easy, she could do it later. Gaz sat up and remembered the picture she drew, walking over to it she saw just how detailed it was, she had to admit, it had to be some of her best work. Then it hit her, she had to go see Zim, getting her jacket on she calmly walked downstairs and looked at Dib.  
  
"I'm going out, I'll be back later." She said walking over to the door, Dib looked over the couch at her and blinked.  
  
"Where are you going?" he asked watching her open the door.  
  
"Out, don't worry, I'm not going to get abducted again." Gaz said walking out and shutting the door and walking down the street. 'a female voice…?' she thought to herself as she walked down the wide sidewalks towards the lime-green house four blocks away, then she started to wonder if Zim had heard the transmission yet.  
  
Zim sat on the couch and looked at the now two SIRs, they were sitting, wide-eyed on the couch next to him, their eyes glued to the 'Scary Monkey Show'. He gave them each an odd look then sighed, having nothing better to do he thought he'd try and figure out what was so addicting about this 'Scary Monkey'.  
  
"Incoming transmission from: All Mighty Tallest Red." The computer voice said, Zim almost fell off the couch as he heard it, he quickly jumped down and hurried down to the main part of the base, tearing off his disguise he had forgotten to take off. When he got to the main control room he jumped over the back of the chair and saluted the form of Red as it was appearing on the screen.  
  
"Yes my Tallest!" Zim said, he only hoped it wasn't about how his mission was going, he still hadn't managed to conquer the humans and it didn't look like he would any time soon.  
  
"Zim, you know I would never come to you unless there was something wrong and you were part of the reason." Red said glaring at him, then calmed, trying to not punch himself in the gut for contacting Zim voluntarily.  
  
"What's happened sir?" Zim asked lowering his arm and looking up at the screen.  
  
"Xii's coming to earth, she wants to see her mother, and she might also be coming to see you." Red explained, Zim's eyes widened as he remembered the last time he saw Xii, it was the day they each graduated from the academy, and the day before he was enlisted in Operation Impending Doom 1. He remembered her smile, by human standards, Xii was beautiful, her large round gray-lavender eyes, her slim figure, her style, her light green skin. Zim snapped out of his flashback and looked up at the screen.  
  
"Her mother is here?" Zim asked, "I thought she was on a top secret information operation." He said still looking up at Red.  
  
"I know that, but Bit is stationed on Earth, with you, in fact you probably know where she is. You have to get her to contact Xii's ship and tell her to come back here." Red looked over his shoulder, hoping Purple wouldn't catch him, "Bit is in the facility you call 'Skool' she spoke of you earlier. You know who she is. Please, Xii's ship is much faster than yours, she'll be there in about a month of two." Red said getting his serious look on his face, "and whatever you do, do NOT tell Xii why you were banished." He said, Zim noticed his arm move to go cut the communication and saluted.  
  
When the screen went back Zim fell back in his chair, he couldn't believe Xii was coming here, even though she was taller, but still younger than he was, he felt a wave of emotion come over him. He was getting excited, part of him wanted Xii to get to earth it had been so long since he last saw her. He sat and thought for a while, just wondering what he was going to tell Bit, and what he was going to tell Xii when she got here, he could hear the two SIRs playing upstairs, he didn't even know why he said it was all right for the other one to come to earth, but since GIR was happy and didn't bother him, it was all right. A picture of Gaz suddenly came into his mind, she was smiling up at him, her light brown eyes were locked onto his large red ones, there were tears starting to fill hers and her arms were open as if she was going to hug him. Zim felt his face get warmer and he quickly got up and ran to a mirror, he saw his cheeks were light pink and his face was very warm.  
  
"What's wrong with me…? Do I have some strange earth disease?" he asked himself almost panicking, he remembered Xii, then thought of Gaz, what he couldn't understand was why they were both there. He thought to himself over what might happen, how was Gaz going to react? Would Dib try and kill both Xii and Bit? Would Gaz even care? He paced back and forth in his control room, nothing was making any sense to him anymore. He stopped hearing the clunking of and 'singing' of GIR coming down one of the inside passages down to the control room. Zim looked up at one of the wall hatches as GIR poked his head into the room.  
  
"Your friend's sister's at the door." He said falling out of the hatch, but still managing to land on his feet. He looked up a Zim and smiled, "She's not at mean as she looks. She offered to buy me and SIR pizzas!" GIR said jumping up and down, then using his jets to go back into the hatch and went back to the main floor. Zim's eyes widened, Gaz was there, why? He quickly put his disguise back on and took one of the lifts back to the main floor. When he stepped into the room he saw Gaz sitting on the couch next to the two SIRs, just watching the television, her eyes seemed to be closed, but she was just in her usual glare mood.  
  
"What are you doing here?" he asked standing in front of her, he tried to keep himself calm and tried to keep his face from getting too warm.  
  
"I had to get away from Dib. So I came here, don't mind me." She said, she didn't show it, but she was happy, there was something about Zim that calmed her nerves, made her feel welcome. He noticed her calm quiet resolve as she went back to watching the television, he could completely understand why she would want to get away from Dib, he couldn't stand being in the same building as him, Gaz had to live with him.  
  
Zim shrugged and sat on the other side of the couch, he couldn't understand what was so great about the television, all it did was destroy the brain cells of those who watched it. He didn't even see the entertainment that people got from sitting down everyday in front of the electric box. He sat there quietly, not saying a word, no one said a word for quite some time and soon the 'Scary Monkey Show' was over.  
  
"The people at my dad's lab got a transmission from space today…they think it's another alien." Gaz finally said, breaking the now uneasy silence, she looked over at Zim who seemed shocked "It wasn't to or from earth, but radio waves from space going into space. Dib thinks you're going to bring reinforcements here to take over us." She said, Zim looked over and nodded, that strange feeling was coming over him again, he had to make it stop, but how?  
  
"The transmission was probably just a stray from another planet, there are others you know. And if I wanted help conquering your people I won't have done it a long time ago, I don't need you making accusations over what I might be doing." Zim said, he hadn't realized he snapped at her, but then figured it out when she glared at him.  
  
"I will just telling you that, you don't have to get all angry, the fact that I'm even here is beyond my knowledge, I could have gone anywhere. I don't have to take this from you, or from anyone else!" she shouted, she seemed to go back into that cold, dark place she had been before Dib and himself went to go rescue her from Sirk.  
  
"You're starting to sound like Dib, do you know that? Saying the aliens are coming, and that they're going to take over the world. You know what? Why don't you just go watch 'Mysterious Mysteries' with your idiot brother, you do know by now that any alliance the three of us had is gone!" Zim shouted then walked over to Gaz and pushed her out of his house. He waited for her to leave the grounds of his house, then fell back against his door, a welt of guilt filled him and he had to stop himself from getting carried away. He almost screamed as he felt something fall down his face, bringing his gloved hand up, thinking it was a bug he smacked himself.  
  
"Aw…master's crying…" GIR said looking at him, he walked over to Zim, his light blue eyes were wide and calming. Zim didn't fight him, or yell as GIR put his metallic arms around Zim's waste, he just hugged his robot back, unable to control himself any longer, he felt a wetness fall from his eyes and down his face, he looked on GIR's round head and saw small puddles gather and fall down the robot's head. The other SIR just watched, looking somewhat confused, he had never seen anything like it, never such emotion from an Irken Invader, he just sat and watched, wondering what to do next.  
  
Gaz made her way back home, dark clouds were gathering in the sky above her and thunder could be heard a few miles away. She couldn't believe what happened, everything was back to normal now, she didn't care what was coming anymore, she just wanted to get away from all that might try and get in her way, and that once again, included Zim. As she got back closer to her house, she saw Dib standing in the gateway of their fence, holding an umbrella over his head as it started to pour down rain.  
  
"You'll freeze out there Gaz." He said holding the umbrella over his sister's head, she looked up at him, she wanted to glare at him, she wanted to punch him, but she couldn't, her light brown eyes were opened and glossed over, "Gaz?" Dib asked looking down at her, she only looked down and walked past him, going inside and running up to her room. Dib watched and made his way back inside, looking up at the dark clouds and noticed a slight break where the light blue sky could be seen, and he noticed it was directly over where he had been standing, looking back over his shoulder he heard Gaz's door slam. Shutting the door behind him, Dib leaned the umbrella against the wall and looked around the living room, he noticed Gaz's Game Slave2 was sitting on the coffee table and sighed. He wanted to help his sister, but figured it would be better to leave her alone right now, he had more important things to do anyway, more aliens were coming.  
  
  
  
The next day at school, Dib strolled in early to give Ms. Bitters his homework; she looked down at him and almost hissed when she saw him, "Get to your seat Dib." She said looking over his papers. He sat down just as the bell rang and Zim, casually late, walked in and sat down. He seemed angry, but that didn't bother Dib, Zim was almost always angry. Once the entire class was seated, Ms. Bitters stood up and cleared her throat, "Today class we will once again talk about outer space, but this time it's about how our world will be utterly crushed and bombarded by space debris left by ourselves and whatever else might be out there." she said ignoring the classes groans and sighs as another dark lecture was beginning. The only one that seemed interested was Zim, Dib looked over and watched, 'he's probably thinking about destroying the human race with our own garbage!' he thought noticing Zim taking notes.  
  
The class cheered as the bell rang, Dib gathered his things and noticed Zim walked up to Ms. Bitters' desk and handing her a note.  
  
"What is it now Dib?" Zim snapped, "Why don't you go to lunch like the rest of the stink beasts." He said glaring at Dib.  
  
"Why don't you, I thought you were nothing more than a 'perfectly normal human worm baby'." Dib quoted walking past Zim and walking out of the class and down the hallway. Zim looked around the doorframe and made sure Dib was gone before he once again approached Ms. Bitters' desk.  
  
"What do you want now Zim?" she asked glaring at him, her glasses seemed to move as if they were her eyes.  
  
"I bring a message for you, from All Mighty Red." He said, knowing that she wouldn't be so harsh to him now, he knew her secret and this was important. Ms. Bitters' eyes opened wide, as she looked down at him, then sat back in her chair, she seemed to calm greatly at the mention of one of her own.  
  
"What does he want?" she asked shuffling through her papers, trying to keep them in some kind of order.  
  
"Xii's coming to see you." Zim said, then jumped back seeing her almost faint, causing the papers to go all over the classroom. She looked at Zim wide-eyed in shock, he looked up at her, his face extremely serious, "you have to try and contact her and tell her to turn back now, this is no place for her." He said, putting his hands on her desk and looking up at her. Ms. Bitters looked down at him and nodded.  
  
"I'll try, but there's a good chance she's almost here as it is, she has a special ship, Red doesn't know just how special her ship is, there's a chance she's almost at the moon by now." Zim's eyes widened and looked at the clock, lunch was almost over, the rest of the class would be back soon, and that meant so would Dib.  
  
"Please try and contact her, all she wants to do is see you." Zim said looking back up at Ms. Bitters, she nodded and turned to her computer, hitting a few keys.  
  
"It's no good, the communication system's down, all we can do is wait." Ms. Bitters said hitting a couple more keys so that the other children wouldn't see the communications screen, she looked at the clock as the bell rang then looked down and glared at Zim, "Go sit down, now, before I get too sick of you." She said, he nodded and walked back to his desk, jumping up to his seat as the rest of the class started to filter in.  
  
Dib glared at Zim as he walked in and stepped over to the alien's desk. "What did you do to my sister, Zim?" he asked glaring at Zim, "She's been acting strange ever since yesterday, I finally got it out of her last night, all she said was 'ask Zim' so tell me now, what did you do to my little sister." Dib said putting his hands on the corner of Zim's desk.  
  
"I don't have to explain my actions to you human. Now go sit down, being this close to you makes me want to tear my skin off." Zim said glaring back at Dib, he didn't want to tell Dib what happened, it was none of his business, besides, he would never be able to understand that he felt guilty for hurting Gaz, but he thought it would be better if he just forgot everything. Ms. Bitters stood up after the bell rang and glared at the students, they could hear the gritting of her teeth as she looked around.  
  
"Now we will discuss the fact that dreams are useless. They are nothing more than things you want to happen, but have no control over whether they do or not. Either way, if you keep your hopes up and follow your dreams, you end up getting violently crushed by the agony of defeat." She said, she seemed to hiss at the class as she spoke, Dib and Zim looked at each other and shrugged, even if they did hate each other, there were sometimes when they couldn't help but turn to each other when Ms. Bitters was like this.  
  
As the day went on, Zim became noticeably more agitated, he watched the clock and paid no attention to the rest of the class, not even Dib who was giving him curious looks from the other side of the room. Slowly the clock ticked down to three o' clock, and the rest of the class grew more and more excited, all except for Dib and Zim who were each just staring at the clock. When the bell finally rang, the rest of the students ran out of the school by any means possible, windows, doors, or the occasional hole in the wall. Zim sighed and stood up and gathered what few school supplies he had, while Dib slung his backpack over his shoulder.  
  
"Why were you doing nothing but watching the clock Zim? What's going to happen now? That little weird pack on your back going to grow to a hideous size and suck in the rest of the class?" Dib asked walking up to Zim's desk.  
  
"Nothing is going to happen earth-worm, just go home and leave me alone for once." Zim said glaring at Dib, but perked up and turned to look out the door when he noticed Gaz out of the corner of his eye.  
  
"Hurry up Dib, stop harassing Zim and let's go home." She said, she had her normal glare back, she looked at Zim and almost seemed to calm down, but she didn't really let it show. Dib looked at her curiously, he couldn't figure out if Gaz had just ordered him to do something once again, or if she had actually defended Zim.  
  
"Yes go home you filthy stink beasts, go home and let me go through with my mission in peace." Zim said glaring at both of them, but mostly at Dib, he was more trouble than Gaz was anyway.  
  
They were each just about to leave when the entire school shook violently, Gaz and Dib stood in the door way while Zim dove under his desk, even he knew the 'cover and hold' method. Ceiling tiles and dust started to fall and fill the classroom as the shaking continued.  
  
"Earthquake!" Dib yelled holding onto Gaz who just covered her own head, and her GS2. As the shaking stopped the three of them, along with Ms. Bitters looked around, dust filled the classroom and tickled their noses, causing them to sneeze and couch.  
  
"Wow…" Gaz said looking around, "That was the strongest earthquake I've ever been in." she said walking over to the window and looking outside to see how the rest of the world did. Dib ran over behind her and looked around.  
  
"Nothing even seemed like it moved…almost like it was only the school that felt it…" Dib said turning back and glaring at Zim, "What was that." He said looking at him.  
  
"How am I supposed to know? I don't know how the surface of this planet works, I only know that I'm supposed to control it all." Zim said glaring back at Dib. Ms. Bitters looked around and at the doorway; dust seemed to move down the hall like large clouds as it was taken away by the ventilation system of the school.  
  
"It was her…" she said, the three others looked at Ms. Bitters curiously, then Zim gasped, Gaz looked at him curiously while Dib continued to glare at the alien. They heard footsteps coming down the hallway and they each turned and watched as a shadow could be seen getting closer.  
  
"What an odd place…" they heard, it was obviously a girl's voice, but they couldn't tell how old she would be. The form got closer to the room as the footsteps could actually be heard as the clicking of boots on the marble floor. Gaz moved to stand next to Dib instead of behind him so she could see, Zim jumped back away from the door, his eyes were wide and almost fearful, as the figure got closer to the room. Ms. Bitters stood up and walked out from behind her desk, her eyes were calm and actually looked somewhat kind as she waited. Dib's jaw dropped as the green head of a light lavender eyed alien peeked in the room. She then moved and stood in the doorway, they all saw her antennae were curled and her dress was light magenta, she wore white boots and gloves as she looked around the inside of the room. She held a small device in her hands that she looked down at, it beeped and made some electronic noises as she tapped it a couple times. She also had a belt of sorts around her waist with a small pouch on the side, she looked around the room at the others, not really knowing what to make of the situation.  
  
"Xii…?" Zim asked looking up at the other alien, she looked down at him and smiled, Ms. Bitters looked down at the other alien as she floated up to her. Xii looked up, her gray-lavender eyes were wide as she blinked.  
  
"Mother?" she asked, her voice was quiet, but still excited. Dib and Gaz just watched, Gaz stepped over and looked up at Xii, while Dib stood back and tried to stop her. Xii looked down at Gaz and glared, "Putrid scum… you will be nothing once Zim takes over this planet." Xii said, lowering the control pad and looked back at Dib. Zim looked at Dib and shrugged, while Ms. Bitters kneeled down and looked at Xii.  
  
"Xii, why are you here? Purple's going to be worried sick." She said, Xii looked up and smiled.  
  
"He told me to write you a letter and I did, but I wanted to deliver it in person." She said holding out the small device to Ms. Bitters, "Get out of that disguise mother, you looking like one of these creatures makes me forget who you are." Xii said stepped back a couple of steps, Ms. Bitters sighed and looked to Dib and Gaz.  
  
"There are humans here…" she said looking back to Xii, "and one of them is my student." She explained, but Xii glared and pointed to Zim.  
  
"I'm sure they've seen it, I mean, look at his disguise! No offence Zim, but look, it's oblivious he's one of us, please mother, I haven't seen you in so long." Xii said giving Ms. Bitters a pleading look, her eyes actually starting to fill with tears as she clasped her glove covered hands in front of her. Ms. Bitters sighed again and put her fingers at her hairline, finding a small zipper-pull. She then pulled it down and let the human form fall to the floor, she stepped away from the disguise and looked at Dib, Gaz, Zim, and Xii; her gray eyes looked to each of them, she wore magenta and gray robes and had a gray pack on her back. Zim looked at her feet and noticed she was floating up off the ground, and then looked to her face to see the green skin and slightly curled antennae on her head. Xii smiled and jumped up into her mother's arms.  
  
Gaz looked up at Xii, then sighed, seeing that showed her just how much she missed her mother. She looked to Dib then walked out of the room, she had to be alone. Zim watched her leave, he felt the pain and guilt building up inside him once again. Xii looked down to Zim and smiled.  
  
"I'm glad to see you again too. I haven't seen you since our graduation, where did you go?" she asked, Zim looked to the side and mumbled something, he didn't want to tell her, he knew it would only hurt her, but he couldn't lie to her either, she had to know what happened. "What was that?" she asked jumping down to look at him.  
  
He looked up at her and sighed, "Operation Impending Doom1…" he whispered. Xii looked down at him, remembering how much of a disaster it had been, thousands of Irken were killed, she almost was as well, if it hadn't been for her mother's sister, Faine, the object of All Mighty Red's affection.  
  
"What part did you play in it? Were you hurt?" she asked, but before Zim could answer, Dib jumped up on top of a desk and pointed at the now three aliens.  
  
"I see what you're doing! You're regrouping! I will stop you from taking over my planet! I will stop you all myself if I have to!" he shouted, Bit, also known as Ms. Bitters looked at him, she gave him one of those odd looks she usually gave him and Xii just laughed.  
  
"I'd like to see you try, this planet is nothing. My father and All Mighty Red will take over this planet, and Zim shall be its ruler!" she said, jumping up on Zim's desk and facing Dib. Zim looked around and remembered Gaz leaving, he made sure no one was paying very much attention to him and slipped out of the classroom, he figured the exits were blocked, so he went and took the emergency ladders towards the roof.  
  
Gaz lets the cool breeze go through her hair; her face was calmed, but sad. Seeing Xii and Ms. Bitters reopened what she thought was a sealed wound, she missed her mother, she never realized how much until now. She looked down at the ground below, it must have been about 75 feet, if she jumped it would probably kill her. She stood on the ledge and closed her eyes tightly, biting her lip, 'I'm coming to see you mother…' she though and stepped off the ledge. She felt the wind get stronger as she started to fall, but she noticed she wasn't falling, she opened her eyes and blinked, 'I'm floating?' she asked herself seeing that she wasn't moving. She looked down and noticed something silver around her waste, then looked over her shoulder.  
  
Zim had gotten to the roof when he saw Gaz step off the ledge, something inside him wanted to yell out, but instead he ran over, the spider legs shooting from his back, as he dove for the ledge, hoping he could catch her before she was too low. His face was strained as he tried to hold Gaz without falling himself. He saw her look up at him with shock and confusion across her face; her light brown eyes were wide as she rested one of her arms on the metal legs. "Hold….on…" he strained, letting the thrusters from his back fire into the roof's floor, sending them both flying back. Gaz hit the roof hard, she looked down and noticed she had scraped her knee and that her violet-red nylons were now ripped, but she didn't care, she looked up and saw Zim lying there, his spider legs were still out, but were a tangled mess around him. As she stood up she looked at his face, he was awake, but was trying to catch his breath, he slowly began to sit up, retracting the metal legs and looked up at Gaz.  
  
"Why did you do it?" she asked, walking over and sitting in front of him, making sure not to hurt her now slightly bleeding knee. Zim sat up on his knees and looked at her, then looked down, it was obvious that he was an alien now, even though Gaz already knew it, (his contacts had fallen out when they were forced back by his thrusters) his red eyes darted around as if searching for an answer to her question.  
  
"…I don't know exactly…" he said then looking at her, he honestly didn't know why, he felt something inside him now, it wasn't a pain, or panic as it had been when he saw her fall, it felt…kind of nice. Gaz lowered her head for a moment then looked at him, she was actually smiling now, Zim couldn't believe it, Gaz was smiling; she may have only been a human to him, but she did have a very nice smile. She sat up and moved closer to him, then put her arms around his shoulders, he blinked and looked at her, he only saw the back of her hair, but heard a slight sniffle. He brought his arms up and held her as he felt a warm wetness on the back his shoulder.  
  
"I miss my mother…" she managed to say, she couldn't believe she was crying, but she didn't care, she felt comfortable around Zim, almost like, even though he was an alien and wanted to take over the world, she could trust him. Zim gave her a calm look and hugged her, rubbing her back, trying to calm her down.  
  
"It's all right Gaz…I'm here." He said, he couldn't understand why he was holding her, he could be crushing her, but he remembered when he was sad, GIR hugged him and he felt better. Zim saw how sad Gaz and he just wanted her to feel better.  
  
Bit broke into Dib and Xii's argument, she was tired of hearing the two fight over nothing. "Both of your quiet down, Xii, you should know better. Dib you are still in my classroom which makes you still my student." She said, Xii glared at male human then turned and left the room, turning back the way she came. Dib watched Xii, then turned to Bit, "what is it now Dib…" she said floating back to her desk and sitting down.  
  
"Why does Xii seem so different from Zim and the other Irken I've seen?" he asked jumping down from the desk and walking over to Bit's. She looked at him and sighed.  
  
"Isn't it obvious? She doesn't need an energy pack to live. She's perfectly healthy and has lived a normal life." She explained hitting a few keys on her computer.  
  
"Your real name is 'Bit'? No offence, that's a little odd…" he said raising an eye brow at her. She glared at him then went back to her computer hitting a few more keys.  
  
"No, human child. My name is Gray, they call me 'Bit' because I'm a little bit taller than everyone else, but I'm still a little bit shorter than the tallest. Now then, since I can't contact out, I guess I'll just have to take Xii back to Purple myself." She said hitting on more keys causing the entire school to shake.  
  
On the roof, Zim and Gaz felt the violent shaking and looked around, they saw Xii's ship, crashed onto the roof; that had been the reason the school shook the first time. As it continued to shake, Zim helped Gaz help, stabilizing himself with the spider legs that had repaired themselves inside his pack. Gaz looked over to the edge of the building then gasped.  
  
"Zim I think we're moving." She said trying to take a step away from him, but fell back to her knees, still trying to avoid hurting the scraped one. Zim looked at her and started to help her up again, and then looked at the rest of the world, they were moving, but not very fast. He looked over to Xii's ship; it was still shut down, as if no one had even touched it since she got there.  
  
Xii tripped as the school started to shake, the pouch on her belt opened and a silver compact slid across the floor and stopped in front of her. 'Ow…' she though sitting up and picking up the compact, it opened up in her hand and a picture of her family appeared on a tiny screen. She saw her mother, her father, All Mighty Red, and her late Aunt Faine. She looked forward and got to hear feet, she made her way slowly to the roof, trying to get to her ship, she had to get something. When she finally got to the ladder she had to jump to grab the end of it, as she climbed up, she had to cover her head so that falling tiles and pieces of plaster wouldn't hit her. After what seemed like forever she made it to the roof and almost fell back down the shaft seeing Zim and Gaz each on the roof, Zim holding onto Gaz so that she didn't fall down and hurt herself even more.  
  
"Zim! What do you think you're doing!" Xii yelled to him, she was very angry now, Zim and Gaz looked over at her then to each other, they hadn't realized everything that had happened.  
  
"Xii, I'll explain later, what's happening now!" Zim yelled back to her, but he didn't get an answer.  
  
"I'm the daughter of the All Mighty Tallest Purple, you answer to me before I ever answer to you…you tiny enemy-loving invader!" she yelled back, Gaz glared at her then pointed to her feet.  
  
"Xii! Watch out!" she said, she couldn't believe she was saying that to someone who had done nothing but insult her since she came to earth, but she had to say it, for Zim and for Bit. Xii looked down, then behind her, then shaking had caused her to move backwards toward the shaft, as she tried to take a step forward she slipped and started to fall, Zim and Gaz could only watch as Xii cried out.  
  
Gaz looked up at the sky and noticed it was getting very dark above them, she noticed she could begin to see stars and as she looked over to the side, she saw they were above the clouds. "Zim, we have to get back into the school." She said, Zim noticed it as well and helped her get over to the shaft, he looked down and saw Xii hanging from the ladder, covering her head from the still falling objects.  
  
"Xii, climb down! We're going into space." Zim said, she looked up at him, she was scared, her eyes were wide, but she still nodded and jumped down to the floor, he let Gaz go before him, then he jumped down, landing 'gracefully' on his feet. Xii and Gaz each looked to each other, then at Zim, Xii was still a little angry, but she didn't want to be on the roof when they got into space. Zim looked up at her, his eyes were wide, but serious, she looked down at him and sighed, she wanted to kill them both, him and Gaz, but she couldn't.  
  
"Do you know what's going on?" he asked, Gaz looked up at the two of them then started off towards the classroom where Bit and Dib were.  
  
"This 'school' is actually my mother's ship, she disguised it to look like nothing more than a normal human building, since she was on an information gathering mission, she thought it was better if it looked like a place where others learn as well. She's a good strategist, but it's too late now, she has to come home. I guess you and those humans are coming with us as well." Xii said starting to also go back to the classroom. Zim watched her and quickly started to follow.  
  
"Please don't hurt them, at least not Gaz, she's not as bad as you think." He said, Xii looked back at him and nodded, but stopped as he caught up to her.  
  
"What did you do in Operation Impending Doom1?" she asked, Zim kept walking, but lowered his head, still not wanting to say anymore, "Zim?" she asked walking up beside him.  
  
"I…I was in charge of the main offensive, but I got crazed by power and started to destroy buildings on Irk." He said, refusing to look at Xii, she stopped and looked at him, her eyes were calm and shocked, just silent not quite knowing what to say.  
  
"That was you…?" she said quietly, looking at Zim as he continued to walk away, he stopped; his head still lowered, refusing to look at Xii, "My Aunt Faine died trying to save me…my father said I was almost crushed as well…he never told me you did it though." She said, Zim was shocked she was so calm, she was upset at all, but he though she was just remembering the terrible events of the failed operation.  
  
Xii walked over to Zim and looked down at him, her gray-lavender eyes were calm and still kind, as they had always been. "I'm sorry…" Zim said still not looking up at her. She laughed and patted him on the head as she had often done in the academy.  
  
"No worries, let's just get you and the others back to earth." She said looking out a window; they were surrounded by stars passing by the large ship that was once a school. As they made there way into the classroom, Gaz was sitting on one of the desks, looking out a window, while Dib looked over at the computer. Bit, or Gray, she didn't really care which right now, was working at the computer, completely ignoring Dib as best as she could, but still ended up answering his many pointless questions about how the Irken society works. Gray looked up at Xii as she walked in and stood up, her gray eyes looking past Zim and to her child.  
  
"Where were you? I thought you had been pulled into the vacuum of space, or fallen off the building when the shaking started up again." She said walking over to her, Xii just looked up and nodded.  
  
"I was going to the roof to find Zim, then the shaking started and we came back here." She said, Dib looked over to Gaz who hadn't seemed to notice that Xii and Zim had returned, she just continued to look out the window.  
  
"Where were you?" he asked walking up to her, she only glanced up at him then went back to the window.  
  
"I was on the roof with Zim, why? It's not like you're going to try and hurt him right here in front of his own people. They'll try and stop you." She said looking over to Gray and Xii.  
  
"If I hurt Zim would you hurt me?" Dib asked, Xii looked to Gray and just shrugged while Gray just shook her head. Zim looked at Xii in shock then started to laugh at the idea that Dib might actually be able to do serious damage to him.  
  
Xii then walked over to the computer and hit a few keys, her mother didn't seem to care that she was going to it. She hit a couple keys and a screen that said 'connecting' flashed. Once it said 'ready for transmission' she motioned for her mother and they each started to contact Irk.  
  
"All Mighty Red, I am returning with my mother." Xii said, Red looked at her in disbelief that she had ever gotten there so quickly, he then nodded then turned around when the electronic doors opened to the bridge.  
  
"Who are you talking to…?" a distraught Purple said looking at Red, he tried to cover it up, but Xii laughed and waved at her father on the screen.  
  
"Hi Daddy!" she said as he ran over, shoving Red out of the way and almost hitting his head on the screen.  
  
"Xii! Where are you!" he said, his eyes widened as he saw Gray come on the screen as well.  
  
"We're coming home now. My job is complete." Gray said, her eyes were calm as she spoke to Purple, "Xii is fine, as you can see she's here with me, so is Zim, but we're going to send him back along with the two humans." She explained, hoping Purple would forget about the humans being there part of everything.  
  
"There are alien life forms from on that planet on your ship? Why? How did they get there." he said glaring with all seriousness, Red could be seen standing up and brushing himself off in the background then looking at the screen as well at the sound of there being two alien life forms on Gray's ship.  
  
"Don't worry about it, they won't be able trouble once they go back to Earth, besides they went to the school, it's only natural for them to be here in the first place." She explained.  
  
"Also, they're no threat to us in the long run. I say we just leave them here and not disturb their way of life. It's an interesting place here, I'd hate to see it burning and miserable." Xii interjected, poking her head back in the screen. Purple looked over to Red then sighed.  
  
"We'll think about it." He said, "As for now, get them off and come home immediately. I have things I need to discuss with you little one." Purple said looking directly at Xii. She quickly moved out of the screen and stepped away, going back to Zim, Gaz, and Dib.  
  
Gaz walked over and stood next to Zim, he looked down at her and actually smiled. Dib watched, that's all he could do, he wanted to beat the alien to oblivion, but he couldn't now. He had always wondered what had been holding him back from exposing Zim and sending him to 'Mysterious Mysteries' and now he knew, he, even if it had been subconsciously, he didn't want to hurt Gaz. She looked at him, almost waiting for him to start yelling, but instead he just casually walked up and looked Zim in the eye.  
  
"If you ever hurt her. I swear, you will never see the light of day again." He said, Gaz looked up and actually smiled at her brother, it was the first time he could ever remember seeing her smiling at him. Xii walked over and nodded in agreement with what was going on.  
  
"That goes for you as well little Gaz. You hurt Zim and I'll crush you." She said, Gaz looked up at Xii and nodded, then snickered, she couldn't see anyone beating her up on fair terms. "Now then, you will need to follow me, I'll take you to the Shuttle Pods," she said, "They're almost as fast as my ship, they'll have you home in no time at all." She motioned for them to follow and led them down the hallway, when they got to what seemed to be a dead-end, she touched the wall and said a few words only Zim could understand. There was yet another slight shaking, but this one didn't bother them as the wall lifted up and revealed a dark room. Xii clapped her hands and lights came on, shining down on ships that could have been escape pods, they were small, but could still fir the three that were leaving.  
  
"The 'clapper' goes all the way to Irk?" Gaz asked looking up to Zim and Xii.  
  
"Radio signals go a long way." Xii said looking back, she was still a little upset, but realize being mean to Gaz wouldn't help her when it came to Zim, so she figured it would be better not to be harsh against Gaz anymore, she just smiled now plus she had learned a lot from being on earth for such a short period of time. As they walked up to a purple ship, Xii turned and looked to them, "This will be your ride home. I don't know when I shall see you all again, but I hope that when I do, it will not be one grave terms. Good luck on your journey and I hope you live your lives as long as they may be." She said opening the hatch and motioning for them to get in. "Zim knows how to operate this, so do not worry about a pilot." She said as the hatch closed.  
  
"I'm worried already…" she heard Dib say. She couldn't help but chuckle was she heard Zim's snappy reaction. Xii stayed in the bay as the ship took off and watched until she couldn't see it any longer. 'Be good to each other…' she thought as she turned and walked back to the classroom/bridge to learn all her mother had while she had been on earth.  
  
Once they all got back to earth, Dib decided to walk home, he had to figure out what he was going to do with his life now that Zim and Gaz were together, he couldn't try to prove Zim was an alien, but he also couldn't be his best-buddy because he still hated him. He sighed as he made his way home, just watching the ground as he went, he just wanted everything to be normal again, well, as normal as it could possibly get.  
  
Zim and Gaz walked to where the 'Skool' had once been, they figured the police would just say it burned down when they saw the charred dirt and grass where it had once been. "Where do we go from here…? I still have a mission to complete, I don't want you to get hurt from it." Zim said turning and looking down at Gaz, she just looked up at him, her eyes calm and relaxed.  
  
"I may like you, and I may kinda like my brother, but I'm still not too sure about the rest of this world. I'll do whatever I can to help you." She said, and then smiled, "Wouldn't want you to get into any more trouble." Zim smiled down at her and started to lead her home, her put his arm over her shoulder and looked up at the now darkening sky, things were going to be very different from now on. He liked the idea of having Gaz by his side that meant he wouldn't have Dib to mess things up, but Zim figured he would still try to stop him one way or another, but he had help now. There was nothing that could stop him now, not even the end of the world. 


End file.
